On the day that the new Bake Off debuts on Channel 4, it seems only right to look back
at what made the BBC version so special.
Luckily enough, Good Food
seems to be endlessly repeating early seasons, which give you a taster of how
the show looks when chopped up brutally with adverts. It’s also a violent and unwelcome flashback
to how the programme looked before it had the whole nation’s full attention.
The formula took a while to mature and develop over the
first few series: casting the contestants, doing away with the stern male
voiceover, not really dwelling on where the marquee was pitched and slowly
phasing out the backstory VTs to the more obscure recipes. Indeed, as time went on, the technical
challenges became curiouser and curiouser until I was convinced someone was
making them up and claiming their origins in far-flung countries and centuries
that nobody would check (Tudor
Week, anyone?). But, harmonised with
this honing of its flow and structure, the society in which it was broadcast
also knew a greater need for the warm fuzzy feelings only a friendly baking
challenge could elicit.
This was a show where people didn’t get cross with each
other. There was no swearing or
conflict. There was nothing sexual
beyond chucklesome innuendos (cue reference to tarts and buns – tee hee). The worst thing that could happen was a bit
of burnt sponge or some raw pastry.
Maybe someone would put in too much ginger. If only this was all that mattered in the
real world. What of course never
mattered was the amount of butter and sugar being poured into each mix.
And so, each midweek episode saw us rushing home for the
televisual equivalent of a hug, with Hollywood the stern
(and slightly vampiric) dad, and Mary the grandma we all
wanted to please, with nothing but nice things to say to those that were
struggling. On a food shoot I had to
attend with work, I got chatting to a girl who had looked after Mary during
Bake Off production. With the marquee
proving chilly in the British weather, Mary was allegedly kept under blankets
and by a heater in the nearby stately home, awoken and brought out only to take
determined toothy bites and to soothsay contestants.
As with all good shows, it became must-see viewing for any
office drone. Coming into work not
knowing the results of the previous night’s episode was dicing with conversational
death to say the very least. Only by
screaming and running out of the room could those yet to catch up ensure
nothing was ruined for them. Young and
old alike could discuss in depth every familiar portion, from the signature
bake to the showstopper, recalling every Mel and Sue double-entendre
and their favourite cheery line from Mary Berry. In fact, it was the only show I was able to
watch together with one of my weirdest housemates (a forty four year-old
Australian lady who once took herself to A&E on a Saturday night because
she had constipation).
So many have tried to copy the format in order to apply a
bit of competition to other seemingly banal household tasks; there was a Great British Sewing Bee and
something about pottery (pottery?!). I
half expected for there to be something about my favourite domestic task,
cleaning bathrooms.
I would like to take this opportunity to review some of my
favourite contestants from the various seasons:
- Selasi from series seven: nobody cared less than he about the outcomes of his bakes
- Paul from series six: a man who tried to be cheerful but whose fury was betrayed by his very red face. He seemed utterly embarrassed to be there, which made watching him bake strangely compelling
- Norman from series 5: who didn’t see the need to impress anyone or change anything he had been doing the whole time
- Flora from series 6: probably because, by the age of 19, she had achieved more with her life than I ever will at 32, I thoroughly enjoyed it when her bakes went wrong. I need to sort myself out
- Kimberley from series 4: clearly hated the stupidity of everyone around her as they weren’t as smart, but gave nervous chuckles in order to hide her murderous intentions against the competition. Everyone freaked out about having to make tuiles. Cut to Kimberley: “I actually made these last week so smug smug smug.” Loved her
- Nadiya from series 6: such character and hard work, yet we all were convinced that she had some awful husband controlling her life from home. And he turned out to be an absolute babe when we saw him in the final and we all realised that we still harbour ridiculous prejudices, despite claiming to be liberal
While the Hollywood Handshake will still be a possibility
over on Channel 4, we will never again hear Mary claiming she could take a bit
more booze in her bake, or enjoy a good Mel and Sue pun when declaring the
number of minutes left in a challenge.
Strange to think that a show can become such a part of our comfort
system.
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